Ayers Leather Shop has been in downtown Greenville for 64 years and at the corner of North Main and East North streets for 40 years, but a developer has threatened to evict the family-owned business from its own building.

"This is the best corner on Main," Ayers-Agnew told WYFF. "Everybody thinks that."

"Everybody" apparently includes Frank Whisnant, an investor who loaned money to help the business pay off debt and, in exchange, signed an agreement that would give him full control of future development of the building.

"Perhaps I was naïve rather than cynical and thought that this gentleman would honor our family instead of try to destroy it," Ayers-Agnew said. "Our family is tied to this building, this business and to the heart of Greenville,"

Whisnant has asked a judge to order Ayers Leather Shop to leave its current location to make room for a "lucrative" tenant. Whisnant offered the store a section in the back of the building with an entrance along East North Street, but Ayers-Agnew said the space is inadequate.

Judge R. Lawton McIntosh will review information from both sides before making a decision on eviction.

"If you grant the eviction, Ayers Leather Shop is dead. It is no longer a fixture in Greenville," Sandy Stern, an attorney for the store and Ayers Properties, said during the hearing.

But Mott McDonald, an attorney representing Whisnant, said his client fulfilled his side of the deal and has the right to choose who occupies the building and earn money from his investment.

"There’s no mention in any of those agreements -- no negotiations -- about Ayers Leather Shop, Inc. remaining in the space," McDonald said.

McDonald pointed out that the Ayers family, which also has a stake in the development agreement, would benefit financially from the new tenant. McDonald also asked the court to require Ayers Leather Shop to pay rent until an order to evacuate is issued.

But Stern argued that joint venture laws require Whisnant to consult all parties and consider their best interests before making decisions.

"If there's a case out there that says someone with an operating agreement who has zero equity in the building can kick somebody out of their own space and take it for themselves, I'm all ears," Stern said. "But I don't think there is."